The Three Modern Maladies: Isolation, Technology, and the Obsession with Achievement

José Saramago’s words cut to the core of the modern human experience:

“The contemporary human being suffers from three diseases: isolation, the technological revolution, and an obsession with personal achievement.”

These are not just societal issues; they are existential wounds, etched into the fabric of our being. They are the silent battles we fight in the quiet hours of the night when the world falls away, and we are left alone with ourselves.

The Echo of Emptiness

Isolation is not merely the absence of others; it is the absence of meaning in the presence of others. We live in a world where we are constantly surrounded — by people, by noise, by the endless chatter of social media — and yet, we feel profoundly alone. This loneliness is not the kind that can be cured by a crowded room or a flurry of text messages. It is a deeper, more existential loneliness, the kind that whispers, “Do I matter? Does anyone truly see me?”

In our hyper-connected world, we have traded depth for breadth. We have thousands of followers but no one to call when the weight of life becomes unbearable. We have curated personas, polished to perfection, but no one to witness our raw, unfiltered selves. We have become strangers to each other, and worse, strangers to ourselves.

This isolation is not accidental; it is a byproduct of a culture that values individualism above all else. We are taught to be self-reliant, to forge our own paths, to stand alone. But in our quest for independence, we have forgotten the fundamental truth of our existence: we are relational beings. We are not meant to walk this earth alone. Our souls ache for connection, for understanding, for the kind of intimacy that transcends words.

The Illusion of Worth

If isolation is the echo of emptiness, the obsession with personal achievement is the siren song that promises to fill it. We live in a world that measures worth by productivity, success by accolades, and identity by accomplishments. We are told to dream big, work hard, and never settle. But what happens when we achieve our dreams and find that the void remains?

The pursuit of achievement is not inherently wrong; it is natural to strive, to create, to leave a mark on the world. But when this pursuit becomes an obsession, it becomes a prison. We chain ourselves to goals that are never enough, milestones that are always just out of reach. We sacrifice our relationships, our health, our joy on the altar of success, only to discover that the prize we sought was an illusion.

This obsession is rooted in a deeper fear: the fear of insignificance. We are terrified of being ordinary, of living a life that goes unnoticed. And so we push ourselves to be extraordinary, to prove our worth through our achievements. But in doing so, we miss the beauty of simply being. We forget that our worth is not something we earn; it is something we are born with.

What does it mean to break free from this obsession?
It means redefining success, not as something external, but as something internal. It means finding value in the moments that cannot be measured — in the quiet joy of a sunrise, in the warmth of a loved one’s smile, in the simple act of being alive. It means letting go of the need to prove ourselves and embracing the truth that we are enough, just as we are.

Isolation ∩ Achievement

Isolation and the obsession with achievement are two sides of the same coin. The more we chase achievement, the more isolated we become. We distance ourselves from others in our relentless pursuit of success, and we distance ourselves from ourselves in our refusal to rest, to reflect, to simply be. And the more isolated we become, the more we seek validation through achievement, creating a vicious cycle that leaves us empty and exhausted.

To break this cycle, we must confront the lies we have been told: that we are not enough, that our worth is tied to what we do rather than who we are. We must learn to see ourselves not as isolated individuals, but as part of a larger whole. We must learn to measure our lives not by what we achieve, but by how we love, how we connect, how we live.

Closing: The Unprepared Truth of Being

In the end, perhaps the deepest truth we can confront is this: existence itself is unprepared. Life does not come with a manual, nor does it offer assurances. It simply is — raw, unfiltered, and indifferent to our longing for meaning. We are thrust into this world, fragile and trembling, armed with nothing but our questions and our hunger. And it is in this unpreparedness that we encounter the essence of what it means to be human.

Isolation is not a flaw in the design of existence; it is the design. It is the silent echo of our individuality, the reminder that we are, at our core, alone in our consciousness. No matter how deeply we connect, no matter how fervently we love, there is a part of us that remains unreachable, a solitude that no other can penetrate. This is not a curse but a truth — a truth that forces us to confront the boundaries of our own being. It is in this confrontation that we begin to understand the paradox of our existence: we are both separate and inseparable, both solitary and part of a vast, interconnected whole.

The obsession with achievement, too, is not a mere societal construct; it is a manifestation of our deepest existential fear — the fear of insignificance. We build monuments to ourselves, not because we are vain, but because we are terrified of being forgotten. We chase success, not because it fulfills us, but because it distracts us from the void that lurks beneath the surface of our lives. And yet, the void remains, untouched by our accomplishments, unmoved by our striving. It is a mirror, reflecting back to us the futility of our efforts and the inevitability of our impermanence.

But here lies the paradox: it is in the very futility of our striving that we find meaning. The void is not an enemy to be conquered but a teacher to be embraced. It teaches us that our worth is not something we can earn or achieve; it is something we must simply be. It teaches us that the pursuit of meaning is not a destination but a journey — a journey that is as much about losing ourselves as it is about finding ourselves.

For in the end, life is not a problem to be solved or a race to be won. It is a mystery to be lived — a mystery that unfolds not in spite of our unpreparedness but because of it. And it is in this unfolding that we discover the most profound truth of all: that to be human is to be unfinished, to be uncertain, to be alive. And perhaps, just perhaps, that is enough.